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Thx for the reply. I planned to do that but was curious if there was a way to remove the diff cover and push shop towels through the tubes to push as much of this nasty green sludge out of my system as possible. If not no big deal I had already planned to “flush” the front axle a few times with new diff oil before filling it until the next scheduled change.I don't clean out the actual axle tubes when doing a knuckle job. However, the knuckle ball should be cleaned inside and out once you get the knuckle off. I generally stuff a rag into where the axle seal is and go to town with towels to make sure all of the old grease is out.
Thx for the reply. I planned to do that but was curious if there was a way to remove the diff cover and push shop towels through the tubes to push as much of this nasty green sludge out of my system as possible. If not no big deal I had already planned to “flush” the front axle a few times with new diff oil before filling it until the next scheduled change.
Thank you. I’ll just stick to my original plan to flush out the grime at 500 mile intervals then get back on the regular interval cycle.I think if you just drain the oil out and refill you’ll be fine. The oil seeps out of the knuckles more than the grease seeping into the center section.
Realistically you’d need to remove the center section and axle shafts to really clean the tubes out.
Thank you. I’ll just stick to my original plan to flush out the grime at 500 mile intervals then get back on the regular interval cycle.
Yep I should have clarified that part.If you’re not running with your front locked then that won’t do much good and there’s no reason to drain and refill over and over.
You’ll need to run with the front hubs locked so the internals actually spin if you want to spin the oil up and perform any flushing action inside. I would just drain and refill and leave as is until the next service interval after you get some wheeling/off-road miles in with the front driveline spinning.
Like Hokie said, don't waste new gear oil on the front diff by "flushing" it, it's not a radiator or engine...not the same concept. Search for the 60 series chassis FSM on this site, download and read, it's what you are looking for as far as instructions on how to do the knuckle repair/service.
If you're worried about the condition of the gear oil in the housing, you'll have to disassemble the knuckle/hubs and pull the third member.